Remias ending Saipan tour of duty

Capt. Leonard V. ‘Len’ Remias, commodore of the Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron Three, receives ‘Service Above Self’ Rotary T-shirts from Rotary Club of Saipan president Laila Y. Boyer at the mess hall of the USNS Bobo Monday. (Mark Rabago)

Capt. Leonard V. “Len” Remias will be stepping down as commodore of the Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron Three next month.

“This is a one-year unaccompanied tour that is typical for most of the Navy who has embarked on the flagship, which is the USNS Bobo. So I’m approaching the end of my tour. It’s been about seven months since I’ve been in command of this Maritime Prepositioning [Ships] Squadron. We will deploy in March for three months in the Western Pacific supporting maritime preposition force exercises in the Philippines and Korea and that will bring me to the conclusion of my tour of duty,” he said during Monday’s Rotary Club of Saipan tour of the USNS Wheeler and USNS Bobo.

Remias said he will not forget his short but sweet stint as commander of MPS 3.

“The most memorable is the people, the friendships, as well as the environment. You can’t beat the clear aquamarine water and the beautiful weather, the all year-round 80-86 degree weather. That would be the most memorable.”

Remias also noted his squadron’s burgeoning relationship with the local community, especially the Rotary Club. He hopes his successor will continue and cultivate that relationship.

“[I will] recommend to my successor to continue our partnership with Rotary. Like the Navy—honor, courage, commitment—I believe the Rotary’s motto—service above self—is also aligned with what we us sailors want to do with respect to community relations and building partnerships in the region and no matter where we’re at all over the world.”

Remias said he is already looking forward to the maritime preposition force exercises in March because it would involve his flagship, the USNS Bobo, docking at the former U.S. naval base in Subic Bay in the Philippines.

A full-blooded Filipino whose parents hail from the Sampaloc district of Manila in the Philippines, Remias said this would be the first time he will be visiting his parents’ homeland.

Remias assumed his current duties as commander, Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron Three, in July 2013.

Hailing from Hampton Roads, Va., Remias graduated from Old Dominion University with a bachelor in Electrical Engineering Technology and was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program. He attended the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif., and received a master of science degree in Computer Science, and completed the Naval Postgraduate School Anti-Submarine Warfare certificate program.

At sea, Remias served in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets including: USS Coontz (DDG 40), USS Thomas S. Gates (CG 51), USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58), USS Russell (DDG 59) and USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). Afloat staff duty included Flag Material and Readiness Officer in Commander Cruiser Destroyer Group 12/Commander Carrier Strike Group 14 embarked in USS Enterprise (CVN 65). During these operational tours, he completed five deployments to the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Arabian Gulf, and Western Pacific/Indian Ocean.

An anti-submarine warfare specialist, Remias served as director, Undersea Warfare in Surface Warfare Development Group, program manager for the Ship Anti-Submarine Warfare and Mine Warfare Readiness Effectiveness Measuring programs for the Chief of Naval Operations, special assistant to the commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet for Anti-Submarine Warfare and Warfighting Assessment and Readiness. Remias also served as officer-in-charge and assistant chief of staff for Requirements, Doctrine and Experimentation in Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command Detachment Norfolk. He commanded Provincial Reconstruction Team Kunar and the Forward Operating Base Camp Wright in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. He subsequently served as advisor to the Commander, International Security Assistance Force, and U.S. Forces Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Remias’ personal decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, and various service medals and unit awards.